Parker

You probably haven't noticed them, but they've noticed you. They notice everything. That's their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers' work habits. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They're heisters. They're pros, and Parker is far and away the best of them. In The Hunter, the first volume in the series, Parker roars into New York City, seeking revenge on the woman who betrayed him and on the man who took his money, stealing and scamming his way to redemption.

Parker, the ruthless antihero of Richard Stark's eponymous mystery novels, is one of the most unforgettable characters in hard-boiled noir. Lauded by critics for his taut realism, unapologetic amorality, and razor-sharp prose, Stark is a master of crime writing. His books are as influential as any in the genre. Parker goes under the knife in The Man with the Getaway Face, changing his face to escape the mob and a contract on his life. Along the way he scores his biggest heist yet: an armored car in New Jersey, stuffed with cash.

The Outfit was organized crime with a capital O. They were big; they were bad; they were brutal. No crook ever crossed them and lived to enjoy it-except Parker. So they wanted Parker dead, and a hit man proved they meant business. Too bad for the Outfit he missed. Ripping off the Outfit was the easy part of Parker's game. Going one-on-one with Bronson, the Outfit's big boss, was the hard part.

The heist was a piece of cake. It didn't bother Parker that the priceless statue was in a Russian diplomat's house … because he had no scruples about ripping off a Red. It didn't bother Parker that his ex-girlfriend had blackmailed him into pulling this job … because he figured out how to make an extra fifty grand on the deal. It did bother Parker that somebody else was trying to steal the statue first-because being second wasn't Parker's style. Whether he was up against the mob or the KGB, Parker intended to beat them all at the stealing game. Of course, he didn't count on a double cross, a two-timing blonde, and one lethal luger aimed at making him not only second, but last-dead last.

It was an impossible crime: knock off an entire North Dakota town called Copper Canyon-clean out the plant payroll, both banks, and all the stores in one night. Parker called it "science fiction," but with the right men (a score of them), he could figure it out to the last detail. It could work. If the men behaved like pros-cool and smart, if they didn't get impatient, start chasing skirts, or decide to take the opportunity to settle secret old scores ... they just might pull it off.

Not many men knew what Parker did for a living, because what he did was steal. But Joe Sheer, a retired safecracker-known in the business as a jugger-knew. He knew Parker's alias, his whereabouts, his plans-and because he knew too much, he knew to keep his mouth shut. Or die. But Joe was more than ready to trade what he knew for a soft mattress, windows without bars on them, and what every man needs-his freedom. So Parker had come to Nebraska to find the old jugger-and probably murder him. But what Parker found was trouble: Joe was already six feet under; something very valuable was missing; and somebody was planning a funeral-Parker's. Too bad for somebody that Parker wasn't an easy man to kill.

The robbery was a piece of cake. The getaway was clean. And seven men were safely holed up in different places while Parker held all the cash. But somehow the sweet heist of a college football game turns sour, Parker's woman is murdered, and the take is stolen. Now Parker's looking for the lowlife who did him dirty, while the cops are looking for seven clever thieves-and Parker must outrun them all. When hunters and hunted meet, some win, some lose.

Baron is clever-perhaps too clever. He sits on the heavily protected island of Cockaigne, a mini-Las Vegas forty miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, raking in as much as $250,000 some nights, laughing at the Outfit, who can't collect their cut. Now the Outfit can no longer stand the loss of face-not to mention the loss of revenue. That's why they've sent for Parker, who knows that the line between success and failure on this score would be exactly the length of the barrel of a .38. Double-crosses and double-dealings from the word go, not to mention the arrival of Parker's flamboyant friend Grofield, make this one of Richard Stark's best.

When it comes to heists, Parker believes in some cardinal rules. On this job, he breaks two of them: never bring a dame along-especially not one you like-and never, ever, work with amateurs. Nevertheless, with the help of a creep named Billy, and the lure of a classy widow, he agrees to set up a heist of a coin convention. But Billy's a rookie with no idea how to pull off a score, and the lady soon becomes a major distraction. The Rare Coin Score marks the first appearance of Claire, who will steal Parker's heart while together they steal two million dollars worth of coins.

Here's Parker-planning to steal the entire payroll of an Air Force base in upstate New York, with help from Marty Fusco-whose fresh out of the pen-and a smart aleck finance clerk named Devers. Holed up with family in a scrappy little town, the hoisters prepare for the risky job by trying to shorten the odds. But the ice is thinner than Parker likes to think-and Marty's ex-wife is much more complicated.

The good guys in a new African nation were missing a treasury full of diamonds. The nation's corrupt leader had stashed the rocks somewhere in New York City. Now the good guys needed a specialist to get their diamonds back. So they came to the best in the business: Parker. Only the three mysterious tough guys came to Parker, too. They figured three hands filled with .38's could convince him to pass up this international gem game. But leaning on Parker was like pressuring a box of TNT with a short fuse.

Bank robberies should run like clockwork, right? If your name's Parker, you expect nothing less. Until, that is, one of your partners gets too greedy for his own good. The four-way split following a job leaves too small a take for George Uhl, who begins to pick off his fellow hoisters, one by one. The first mistake? He doesn't begin things by putting a bullet in Parker. That means he won't get the chance to make a second. One of the darkest novels in the series, this caper proves the adage that no one crosses Parker and lives.

Deadly Edge bids a brutal adieu to the 1960s as Parker robs a rock concert and the heist goes south. Soon Parker finds himself-and his woman, Claire-menaced by a pair of sadistic, drug-crazed hippies. Parker has a score to settle, while Claire's armed with her first rifle-and they're both ready to usher in the end of the age of Aquarius.

The hunter becomes prey, as a heist goes sour and Parker finds himself trapped in a shuttered amusement park, besieged by a bevy of local mobsters. There are no exits from Fun Island. Outnumbered and outgunned, Parker can't afford a single miscalculation. He's low on bullets-but, as anyone who's crossed his path knows, that definitely doesn't mean he's defenseless.

"Hearing the click behind him, Parker threw his glass straight back over his right shoulder and dove off his chair to the left." When a job looks like amateur hour, Parker walks away. But even a squad of seasoned professionals can't guarantee against human error in a high-risk scam. Can an art dealer with issues unload a truck of paintings with Parker's aid? Or will the heist end up too much of a human interest story, as luck runs out before Parker can get in on the score?

The sixteenth Parker novel, Butcher's Moon is more than twice as long most of the master heister's adventures, and absolutely jammed with the action, violence, and nerve-jangling tension readers have come to expect. Back in the corrupt town where he lost his money, and nearly his life, in Slayground, Parker assembles a stunning cast of characters from throughout his career for one gigantic, blowout job: starting-and finishing-a gang war. It feels like the Parker novel to end all Parker novels, and for nearly twenty-five years that's what it was.

After the bloodbath of Butcher's Moon, the action-filled blowout Parker adventure, Donald Westlake said, "Richard Stark proved to me that he had a life of his own by simply disappearing. He was gone." And for nearly twenty-five years, he stayed away, while readers waited. But nothing bad is truly gone forever, and Parker's as bad as they come. According to Westlake, one day in 1997, "suddenly, he came back from the dead, with a chalky prison pallor"-and the resulting novel, Comeback, showed that neither Stark nor Parker had lost a single step. Knocking over a highly lucrative religious revival show, Parker reminds us that not all criminals don ski masks-some prefer to hide behind the wings of fallen angels.

After the publication of Butcher's Moon in 1974, Donald Westlake said, "Richard Stark proved to me that he had a life of his own by simply disappearing. He was gone." And readers waited. But nothing bad is truly gone forever, and Parker's as bad as they come. According to Westlake, one day in 1997, "suddenly, he came back from the dead, with a chalky prison pallor"-and the novels that followed showed that neither Parker nor Stark had lost a step. Backflash finds Parker checking out the scene on a Hudson River gambling boat. Parker's no fan of either relaxation or risk, however, so you can be sure he's playing with house money-and he's willing to do anything to tilt the odds in his favor. Featuring a great cast of heisters, a striking setting, and a new introduction by Westlake's close friend and writing partner, Lawrence Block, this classic Parker adventure deserves a place of honor on any crime fan's bookshelf. "Whatever Stark writes, I read. He's a stylist, a pro, and I thoroughly enjoy his attitude." "Donald Westlake's Parker novels are among the small number of books I read over and over. Forget all that crap you've been telling yourself about War and Peace and Proust-these are the books you'll want on that desert island." "Parker is a true treasure…The master thief is back, along with Richard Stark." "No need to lament a golden age of hard-boiled writing; it's right here, now." "Parker is back again, and crime fans are in for yet another terrific excursion into the world of a skilled and chillingly dangerous professional…a must-buy, must-read novel."

Between Parker's 1961 debut and his return in the late 1990s, the world of crime changed considerably. Now fake IDs and credit cards had to be purchased from specialists; increasingly sophisticated policing made escape and evasion tougher; and, worst of all, money had gone digital-the days of cash-stuffed payroll trucks were long gone. But cash isn't everything, and now Parker's after a fortune in jewels. In Flashfire, Parker's in West Palm Beach, competing with a crew that has an unhealthy love of explosions. When things go sour, Parker finds himself shot and trapped-and forced to rely on a civilian to survive.

Between Parker's 1961 debut and his return in the late 1990s, the world of crime changed considerably. Now fake IDs and credit cards had to be purchased from specialists; increasingly sophisticated policing made escape and evasion tougher; and, worst of all, money had gone digital-the days of cash-stuffed payroll trucks were long gone. Firebreak takes Parker to a palatial Montana "hunting lodge" where a dot-com millionaire hides a gallery of stolen old masters-which will fetch Parker a pretty penny if his team can just get it past the mansion's tight security. The forests of Montana are an inhospitable place for a heister when well-laid plans fall apart, but no matter how untamed the wilderness, Parker's guaranteed to be the most dangerous predator around.

Racing through the backwoods of Massachusetts and on the verge of being taken down for one of the biggest and most disastrous bank heists the state has ever seen, Parker runs right into the barrel of a gun pointed from the wrong side of the law. A quiet and angry recluse with only a silent parrot for company in his seclusion, Tom Lindahl saves Parker from the police dogs, but enmeshes him in yet another in a long line of dubious, highly dangerous-but seriously profitable-jobs. Far more than some aimless indigent, holed up in a shack in the woods, Lindahl is a man built on rage and driven by a thirst for revenge. A whistleblower whom nobody heard, a man tossed aside by a corrupt political establishment, Lindahl plans to rob them of their lucre and needs Parker's help.

Master criminal Parker takes another turn for the worse as he tries to recover loot from a heist gone terribly wrong. Parker and two cohorts stole the assets of a bank in transit, but the police heat was so great they could only escape if they left the money behind. Now Parker and his associates plot to reclaim the loot, which they hid in the choir loft of an unused country church. As they implement the plan, people on both sides of the law use the forces at their command to stop Parker and grab the goods for themselves. Though Parker's new getaway van is an old Ford Econoline with "Holy Redeemer Choir" on its doors, his gang is anything but holy, and Parker will do whatever it takes to redeem his prize, no matter who gets hurt in the process.